The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by Sterling Investment Management LLC

Sterling Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,265 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group makes up approximately 1.9% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth about $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS opened at $634.74 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $587.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $531.85. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $374.24 and a 52-week high of $635.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a market cap of $199.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 46.38 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.06.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total value of $3,826,245.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,358,685.04. This represents a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,940 shares of company stock worth $12,656,179. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements.